Humphreys

asperities of the temper, checks the waywardness
of passion and appetite, and trains to habits of
industry, temperance, and benevolence" (An Ad-
dress, Delivered at the Collegiate Institution in
Amherst, Mass., 1823, p. 8). The records of Am-
herst graduates of his time and of many years
thereafter would seem to show that it has been
given to few college presidents to make so pro-
found an impression on their institutions. After
his resignation he supplied churches in the neigh-
borhood of Pittsfield and conducted revivals. He
published: Great Britain, France and Belgium,
A Short Tour in 1835 (1838); Domestic Edu-
cation (1840); Thirty-four Letters to ft Son in
the Ministry (1842); Letters to a Son in the
Ministry (1845); Memoir of Rev. Nathan W.
Fiske (1850) ; Life and Labors of Rev. T. H. Gal-
laudet (1857). He left in manuscript, Sketches
of the Early History of Amherst College, which
was published in 1905.

[Frederick Humphreys, The Humphreys Family in
America (1883); 2. M. Humphrey and Henry Neill,
Memorial Sketches, Reman Humphrey and Sophia Por-
ter Humphrey (1869); Edward Hitchcock, Reminis-
cences of Amherst Coll. (1863); W. S. Tyler, Hist, of
Amherst Coll. (1873); F. B. Dexter, Biog. Sketches of
Grads. of Yale Coll, vol. V (1911) ; John Todd, The
Good Never Die: A Sermon Delivered at Pitts field, Apr.
8f 186r, at the Funeral of Rev. Hcman Humphrey
(1861); Boston Transcript, Apr. 5, 1861; Springfield
Republican, Apr. 6,1861. ] p. L. T.

HUMPHREYS, ALEXANDER CROMBIE

(Mar. 30, i8si-Aug. 14, 1927), mechanical en-
gineer, educator, was born in Edinburgh, Scot-
land, son of Edward R, Humphreys and Mar-
garet (McNutt) Humphreys* At the age of eight
he was brought to Boston, Mass., by his parents,
where he attended his father's private school. At
fourteen he passed the preliminary examination
for the United States Naval Academy but, barred
from admission by his youth, he went to work in
a Boston insurance office. Removing to New
York in 1866, he entered the employ of the New
York Guaranty & Indemnity Company and was
soon macte receiving teller and assistant book-
keeper. So diligent and capable was he that in
1872 he became secretary-treasurer and, shortly
afterward, superintendent of the Bayonne &
Greenville Gas Light Company, Since his duties
took him into the operating branch of the busi-
ness, he felt the need of technical training. His
employers agreed to give him two mornings a
week for attending classes at Stevens Institute of
TectaolQgy on condition that he make up his
wort in the evenings, which he also tised for
sttsdyiag. By exceptional application he com-
f&eted tlte six years' course, for part-time at-
tendance, In four years, and was graduated in
i, at the age of thirty, with a special coin-

Humphreys

mendation from the faculty. He had married on
Apr. 30, 1872, Eva Guillaudeu of Bergen Point,
N. JL, and during his college years he served as
vestryman, church treasurer, and Sunday-school
superintendent, a member of the board of educa-
tion of Bayonne, N. J., and foreman of the vol-
unteer fire department. After graduation he be-
came chief engineer for the Pintsch Lighting
Company, for which he built oil-gas plants, con-
ducted extensive experiments, and improved the
business organization. When in 1885 he became
superintendent and chief engineer for the United
Gas Improvement Company of Philadelphia, he
showed similar ability both in technique and or-
ganization. While continuing to build gas plants
for this company, he joined with Arthur G.
Glasgow in 1892 to form the firm of Humphreys
& Glasgow, designers and constructors of water-
gas plants in all parts of the world, with head-
quarters in London; this firm built the first suc-
cessful water-gas plant in England. In 1894 he
left the United Gas Improvement Company and
organized the New York firm of Humphreys &
Glasgow; he retired from the London firm in
1908, and in 1910 reorganized the New York
firm as Humphreys & Miller, Inc. At that pe-
riod the possibility that gas-engines might sup-
plant steam-engines gave additional importance
to his researches and consjdting practice; he also
conducted researches on illumination, photom-
etry, and candlepower. His practice was very
profitable, and he was known as a leader in tech-
nology with a sound foundation of business
ability.

In 1902, when he was fifty-one, he was asked
to become president and chairman of the board of
trustees of Stevens Institute, his alma mater,
while still retaining his consulting practice. He
accepted and served as its president for twenty-
five years, being long past the usual age limit
when he retired. To his work in education he
brought the experience of a man of affairs and a
successful consulting engineer. His presidential
address before the American Society of Me-
chanical Engineers in 1912 (Transactions, vol.
XXXIV, 1913) reveals an engineer's dislike of
waste, and the conservatism and high standards
of a man accustomed to hard work and logical
principles. Humphreys had the engineering
trait of believing a thing to be either black or
white, rather than gray; his consulting practice
had trained him to advise his clients either "yes"
or "no." His influence in engineering education
was criticized for producing narrow and over-
specialized technicians rather than adaptable and
broadly educated scientists. His authority at the
Institute was rarely questioned, and he showed

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